Running trails in Gary, IN
Gary has 6 trails in the directory — 1 boardwalk, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, and 2 open 24 hours. Every one post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 474 Google reviews. Filter by surface, loop, distance, shade or lighting to get to the run you're actually planning — no made-up difficulty score, just the facts you'd check before driving out.
Lake Etta County Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 164 reviews
Laid-back county park featuring a decent-sized sandy beach plus a fishing pond and picnic shelters.
Tolleston Park
3.8 ★★★★☆ 137 reviews
Community park offering facilities such as sports fields, bike trails & a swimming pool.
IDNP Miller Woods
4.8 ★★★★★ 99 reviews
Scenic tract of beach dunes and woods, plus trails for hiking.
Ivanhoe South Nature Preserve / Shirley Heinze Land Trust
4.3 ★★★★☆ 62 reviews
Nature preserve featuring kid-friendly hikes and trails.
Marquette Greenway Trail with view of Long Lake
5 ★★★★★ 3 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Gary
- Match the surface to your legs. Gary gives you a choice: 1 boardwalk and 1 mixed. Asphalt and concrete are fast, predictable and runnable year-round but the least forgiving; crushed limestone and dirt take the sting out of high mileage; boardwalk is flat and scenic but slick in the wet. If your shins or knees are complaining, the fix that actually works is varying the surface you run on rather than chasing one "best" one. More boardwalk trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 2 trails here are loops, so you finish back at the car with no backtracking — the easiest way to run a set distance without thinking about it. On an out-and-back you turn round at half your target distance, which makes any trail fit any run. The longest stated distance in Gary is IDNP Miller Woods at 1.6 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Gary are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 6 of the 6 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 3 have trailhead parking, 1 has restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Gary. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 that runners describe as quiet, 3 dog-friendly, and 1 smooth and wide enough for a stroller or a wheelchair. Busy or quiet isn't a good-or-bad thing here: a busy path is the safer choice for a solo run at dawn, a quiet one is better for intervals.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Gary trails by type
Running trails near Gary
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.